Retired New York City Chief of Department John Chell told Newsmax on Saturday that the election of democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani as mayor-elect of the city poses a dangerous threat to the city's policing.
Chell told "America Right Now" that about 4,000 officers across all ranks could be eligible to leave in January. "Now, will there be a mass exodus? It remains to be seen," Chell said.
"I've been very vocal on the points that who he associates with, what his [Mamdani's] rhetoric has been, [is] well documented. Although he apologized, okay, fine. But the policies he's looking to put in place by his own words are very disturbing.
"And when you really listen to his rhetoric, he wants to maintain staffing. What he's saying there is he's not gonna hire more; in my opinion, he's not gonna hire more cops. He's just gonna divert some of their jobs to this community action team to do police work. It's not going to work, and people are going to leave. We'll see the numbers in January."
Chell also spoke about the impact on recruiting and public safety.
"If you look on social media the last couple of days, other agencies, Houston, Florida, they're trying to recruit our cops to a better place to work. And it will affect recruiting," Chell said.
"If the Civilian Complaint Review Board will get the power to adjudicate complaints against cops, that'll be the deal breaker. And just for your audience, the police commissioner now has the last say. He [Mamdani] wants to bring it over to that agency. That will be catastrophic for this department. No one's gonna come on, and people will leave. I can guarantee you that."
Federal immigration authorities are also seeking to recruit New York City police officers with new social media ads portraying U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as a more appreciative employer.
"Join an agency that respects you, your family and your commitment to serving in law enforcement," one ICE ad reads.
The ad links to a recruitment page warning that "America has been invaded by criminals and predators" and offering signing bonuses up to $50,000.
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